down this road

With all due respect to those of you who have been there, sitting with Andy on Monday as those chemicals dripped into his veins was surreal.  More than surreal, it was crazy weird.  For me the emotions were a mixture of fear,  disbelief, and gratitude.  To live this life avoiding as much exposure to toxin as we possibly can, and then to find ourselves in a hospital with toxin draining into his veins....we didn't miss the irony.  But we did work on acceptance.  Both of us sat there as the bags dripped and meditated on welcoming that medicine into his body, asking it to do its job, intending for it to be so.  Thankful for the kind nurses, the triple checks, the doctors and pharmacists and their knowledge of this chemistry that somehow we just need to trust.   Embrace it. 

Andy's body seems to be doing well with this first dose.  He's been tired, but we've been on the go.  The drug he got on Monday was the "easier" of the two, next week he receives another drug that could cause more side effects.  Or not.  He's focused on continuing to feel well as these drugs do their job.  He's doing so much to make it so. 

On Tuesday, with doctor's approval for travel, we headed to Chicago to visit the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment. We spent a long day with the team at the Block Center and learned more about ways to supplement and enhance his current treatment.  It feels good to know there are so many tools in the box. 

We couldn't leave town the next day without a stop at my fav, The Field Museum.   The girls were blown away by the size and grandeur (who isn't?) and could have stayed much longer than the 4 hours we spent there. 

But the long road home was calling, so we hit it.  As always it was good to leave the city and get back to the vibrant, vital green of home.  We'll do some resting (and some weeding) in these days before his next treatment. 

Thank you all for your continued love and support.  Your prayers, your thoughts, the help you offer in so many ways means the world to us.  We don't take granted this time to rest and heal and be together as a family.  Not for a minute.